Muckraking!: The Journalism That Changed America

by Judith Serrin, William Serrin

Overview

In collecting the kind of reportage that all too rarely appears in this age of media triviality and corporate conglomeration, Muckraking! documents an alternative journalistic tradition, one marked by depth of vision, passion for change, and bravery. From the Stamp Act to the abolition movement to the Vietnam war, from the fight against patent medicines to the elimination of labor spies, from the integration of baseball to the safety of government atomic workers, and from putting people in jail to getting them out, this book illustrates the great journalism that has made America a better country.

With more than 125 entries that range across three centuries, Muckraking! brings together the greatest moments of American journalism. Supplying historical context and critical commentary, the book also includes a selection of influential photographs and illustrations. By turns compelling and shocking, Muckraking! is an anthology for anyone who feels passionate about the heights that journalism can climb or its ability to illuminate the darkest depths.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781565846814
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	06/01/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 9.20(h) x (d)

About the Author

William Serrin, a former labor and workplace correspondent for the New York Times, taught at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU. He was the author of several books, including Homestead: The Glory and Tragedy of an American Steel Town, and editor of The Business of Journalism (The New Press).

Editorial Reviews

This is not the first anthology of American investigative journalism, but it is almost surely the most varied, inclusive, and thoughtful. Judith Serrin, a former newspaper reporter, editor, and journalism professor, has teamed with New York University journalism professor William Serrin to select more than 100 examples of investigative journalism of the past 250 years from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting, and book publishing. The editors concede in an insightful introduction that the anthology is of necessity laudatory and subjective. However, the subjectivity is tempered by an emphasis on reporting that substantially contributed to political, economic, or social change nationally, regionally, or locally. The anthology is divided into types of topics investigated the poor, the working class, public health and safety, women's rights, politics, race, sports, conservation, war, criminal justice, the media, and two catchall categories labeled muckraking and Americana. All entries within each category are presented chronologically and are introduced with one or more paragraphs that provide background on the journalist showcased and the context of that journalist's quest for truth. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Steve Weinberg, Columbia, MO Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Reminding readers and aspirants to media jobs that there was a time when journalism was used to make life better rather than merely to sell products or policies, 72 articles from the 19th and 20th centuries campaign for the poor, the working class, public health and safety, women's suffrage, political and economic reform, black freedom, and equality in sports. They are not indexed. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

A dazzling collection of some of the most significant examples of US investigative journalism of the past 250 years. William Serrin (Journalism/NYU; Homestead, 1992) and former editor and reporter Judith Serrin present, with a compelling combination of virtuosic editing and dogged research, a reference of great impact. From Jacob Riis's late-19th-century story on "How the Other Half Lives" to an eyewitness report of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire to Larry Kramer's breaking story on AIDS to a transcript of the first TV report on the Ford/Firestone tire debacle, the authors serve up the high points of American reportage. Stories go as far back as a 1765 reaction to the Stamp Act, and are organized by such topics as "The Poor," "Public Health and Safety," "Politics," "Muckraking," "Sports," "America at War," "The Press," and "Americana," among others. A few paragraphs of context appear at the beginning and end of each piece: a 1952 Reader's Digest article, "Cancer by the Carton," for example, comes with the information that the publication took no advertising at the time and therefore was "immune to the considerable pressures of tobacco company advertisements, and became the only mainstream periodical to crusade against smoking." Not every story bears the same moral weight: Tom Wolfe's Esquire article on stock-car racing is cited as groundbreaking for its role in creating a new kind of journalism. Nonetheless, almost every piece demands to be read, and many retain their power to shock or stir-although in many cases the stories themselves and the issues raised are well-known, as are the decades, even centuries, of consequences that followed. Wholly absorbing, intensely illuminating.

Kirkus Reviews